Richard D. James Album
| Richard D. James Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Aphex Twin | ||||
| Released | 4 November 1996 | |||
| Genre | Jungle, drill 'n' bass | |||
| Length | 32:51 | |||
| Label | Warp | |||
| Producer | Richard D. James | |||
| Aphex Twin chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Entertainment Weekly | A− |
| Muzik | 4.5/5 |
| Pitchfork Media | 8.4/10 |
| Rolling Stone |  |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Spin | 7/10 |
| The Village Voice | B+ |
Richard D. James Album is the fourth studio album by English electronic musician Richard D. James under the alias Aphex Twin, released on Warp Records in 1996. The album's music was produced and recorded by James and was a step away from the ambient music on his previous releases and more influenced by jungle music.
The album charted in the United Kingdom peaking at number 62 on the UK Albums Chart. The American release of the album included the Girl/Boy EP as bonus tracks. The album received positive reviews from sources ranging from Spin, Robert Christgau, The Independent and the NME who placed the album on their list of the 50 best albums of 1996.
James has stated that most of Richard D. James Album was composed on his Macintosh computer and that the album took longer to create than any of his previous albums. Some tracks on the album include vocals from James including "To Cure a Weakling Child", for which James manipulated his voice to sound like a child giving a lecture about arms and legs. Tracks from the American edition of the album such as "Milkman", which have Richard singing, were modulated on a computer as well.
For the orchestral arrangements on the album, James bought a violin at a car boot sale. James taught himself to play a note from the instrument by placing it on a table, playing a note and sampling it for the album.
The drum programming on the album was inspired by James' friend Luke Vibert. James described that he used to have it a "much slower pace" but that Vibert "really got me into doing it a faster pace. He gave me the spark to do it faster, but now I'm trying to take it to all extremes, basically" James also noted the influence of his friend Tom Jenkinson in 1997, "There's a lot of music around that I quite like, but nothing that inspires me [...] the only two people around who are consistent enough for me are Luke Vibert [a.k.a. Wagon Christ and Plug] and Tom Jenkinson [Squarepusher] – they haven't faulted at all over the past year."
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